My video Endeavour has been out in the world since March, but was updated in July and gifed in August. This project is one of my favorites for a few reasons. One, it’s about space and NASA, so obviously it goes on the favs list. Two, I got to team up with my former roommate, Erin Stepp. She composed the music and asked me to make a video to accompany it during her senior recital at TCU. Three, it was a personal challenge in every way possible. The music is over nine minutes long – I had previously only done videos under four minutes. That’s a big jump in terms of editing. I also had to dust off my Photoshop skills for this new technique I wanted to check out.

I’ve started a Redbubble shop! The idea to open up a shop online has been mulling about in the back of my head for about a year now, but especially once I designed a couple of stickers and sold one design through the School of Art at TCU’s sticker machine.

The original idea was just to sell my two original sticker designs, Space Ace and Seeing Compass, as they were originally intended: stickers. But when Redbubble showed me all the different product options, I couldn’t resist. Variety is the spice of life, right? So now, you can buy my stickers, but you can also by journals and pillows and clothes with these two designs on them.

As an event even bigger than Super Bowl, the Olympics bring in a lot of views – and therefore a lot of commercials are shown. Here are my top three commercials from this year’s Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

Bronze

Coming in for a bronze medal is Reese’s “Summer… Like a Winter Olympian” commercial starring Lindsey Vonn! A couple of different companies used the idea of putting summer Olympic athletes into abnormal situations, but I really like the idea of working with a winter athlete (maybe because I love the Winter Olympics more? (I also love Reese’s…)). This commercial lets the audience know that, while incredibly talented in their chosen sport, Olympic athletes aren’t good at everything. Lindsey is going to veg out and watch Team USA just like the rest of us – with a Reese’s peanut butter cup, of course.

As you might have noticed from some of previous blogposts or tweets, I am a big fan of podcasts. I got started with Welcome to Night Vale in the summer of 2013, but really started diving into a bunch of different podcasts this past year and a half. Since some of my friends asked me for a recommendation list, I decided to post it here as well.

Fiction

First up is fiction podcasts. I love the challenging and creative ways podcast creators push storytelling in this primarily audio format. Since I don’t have much time to read these days, fiction podcasts have filled in. Plus, I can now multi-task while I listen.

(Note: I love all the podcasts listed here, but these are pretty much organized with my most current faves at the top of the list.)

Non-Fiction

It took me awhile to get into non-fiction podcasts. They just seemed a bit boring compared to the amazing stories I was listening to in my fiction podcasts. But I quickly learned the truth: non-fiction can be just as great as fiction! Give me a passionate host and I’ll quickly fall in love with whatever they are talking about.

As you may know, I recently graduated! It was very bittersweet for me. I truly loved my time at TCU, as a student of both the Department of Strategic Communication and the School of Art. I was able to explore so many of my interests with the help of my professors and the administration at TCU. I am sad to leave this great place, which has become a second home to me. I know that I will never find another like it.

This semester is going to be a video heavy one for me. Which is good (I love making videos), but also daunting (making videos takes a lot of time). I’m doing an independent study class which is focused completely on making videos using After Effects. I’m continuing to do artist interviews for my job at the Art Galleries at TCU. And I also promised my services to my Bateman PR competitions team, where I’ll be making at least 5 videos, if not more. Lastly, I’m collaborating with my friend who is a music composition major to make videos for her senior recital!

Happy 2016! Before I look ahead, I’ve decided to take a look back at all that happened. All in all, Fall 2015 was the busiest semester of my college career. Here we go…

First up, a new job/internship/thing (how many am I at? 6? 7? a lot). I started at The Art Galleries at TCU, working on their social media, tracking metrics, documenting events, filming interviews, gallery sitting and pretty much anything else that can be squeezed into about 7 hours each week. Which is a lot, surprisingly. This job, though high-paced at times, is a dream come true for me. I remember on my first day the sense of complete relief and contentment that just settled in as I started discussing my ideas and responsibilities. After working for an agency over the summer, coming back to an art setting was like coming home. I know that this is the type of environment that I want and need to work in. This semester I really worked on organizing the various social media platforms, establishing guidelines and continuity, as well as developing new types of content. I have big plans for the future, so I signed up to keep working there next semester!

As 2016 looms and fall finals finally finished (alliteration!!), I knew my portfolio (along with the rest of this website) would need some major work. This semester alone I have worked on so many projects and art works. And so, this morning at 5:30, my mind decided that right then was the best time to do it.

Before you go off searching through this site, I’ll point you in the right direction! First up, the Writing tab. I added the most to my Writing samples, both in Public Relations and Research. This semester I helped write and develop research papers and strategies for three classes. You’ll see my presentation for Creative Strategy in the Public Relations tab and my papers for Strategic Communications Research and Creative Crossroads over in the Research tab.

FOUND: James Turrell’s “Twilight Epiphany,” Twilight truths, Houston’s Awesome, Wolf 359 and If This Then That

I love Houston, so just expect a lot of things about Houston to pop up in my blogs. The “Twilight Epiphany” skyspace by James Turrell is a beautiful example of what Houston has to offer: culture, art and a unique place to live. It also says that not longer how much you know about a place, you will continually find new people, places and things to love about it. I have lived near Houston all my life, yet I never knew about this place until this past week!

Creativity is a one of the most important skills needed in the public relations world, from writing daily social media posts to designing advertisements and off-the-wall strategic plans that both get people talking and capture the target audience to do something. Sometimes, it can be difficult to stay creative or find new sources of inspiration.

Read about some of my sources of inspiration and how I get into the creative zone at The Back 9 Blog.